So
this question was spurred from all the Easter events that I saw going
on this year, particularly on Gaia Online, but the question itself is
directed towards events of all kind, whether it be Easter, Halloween,
Christmas, or forum events, MMO events, etc. The overall consensus seems
to be that they are too long, considering that all 4 voters voted for
that. Does that say anything about how people view holiday events? It's
something that I always saw to be a delicate balance for the most part,
especially in MMORPGs.

First, is it rewarding enough for players to participate in this event?

The reward has to be good enough for how much time you put into
it. Of course, with plenty of other games and such doing events of their
own, making a long one will mean you either monopolize their time on
that day by having them participate until they get their reward, or
they'll completely ignore it, deeming it not worth the time.

The item should be something absolutely optional and doesn't
affect the game in any meaningful way. Aesthetic items that changes your
character's appearances or an item that gives a minor benefit is more
appropriate for a limited time, holiday event based item, IMO.

If the reward is a special, permanent item, how will it affect
the economy? Is it tradeable? If not, would it be something people would
sell their whole accounts for, regardless of whether if it's illegal to
do so or not.

Next, is the event fun? You don't want people to participate in the
event just so that they get the reward; a good event will be fun to
participate in.

In fact, the main reward can be given for just showing up in the
game, while players can participate in an optional quest, hopefully a
fun activity, that will get them to play it more irregardless of
rewards.

Guild Wars' Wintersday Snowball Fight event comes to mind for a
fun event activity. I don't remember the details of it, but it's an
example of how a holiday event should play out, IMO. Participation could
possibly give additional rewards too, as an extra incentive.

Finally, how long will the event be open for? Given the above two
points, I think people will appreciate the event lasting longer for the
fun activity. Also, being that everyone else is running a holiday event
of their own around the same time period, so it would be nice to give
people the opportunity to catch up to your event, as well as others.

I talk quite a bit about stuff like this, but unfortunately, I can't apply this to anything that I do currently, since I lack the knowledge to make a game or anything. At least, not a big MMO that would have holiday events like that anyway. It'd be nice if I can make something simple, and yet fun to play, once I learn more about programming. I really should practice writing code in Java or C++... I'll need to find a good compiler for that.